Verstappen blasts new F1 rules again, dismisses positive fan reactions

Max Verstappen says those who like the 2026 races in Formula 1 “don’t know what racing is about” and fired a warning to the sport’s owners after retiring from the Chinese Grand Prix.

The new generation of cars have been designed around power units that feature a near 50:50 split between internal combustion and electrical power. The need to focus so much on deployment and harvesting of energy has led to significant speed differences at certain points of races, and also limited how close to the limit drivers are pushing in specific corners.

In qualifying drivers have often been driving counterintuitively in order to extract the best lap time – with an emphasis on straight-line performance – but the races have featured some exciting battles between the Mercedes and Ferrari drivers, as well as in the midfield, although Verstappen denies it constitutes good racing.

“It's terrible,” Verstappen said. “If someone likes this, then you really don't know what racing is about. It's not fun at all. It's playing Mario Kart. This is not racing … Look at the racing. You are boosting past, then you run out of battery the next straight, they boost past you again. For me, it's just a joke.

“It's just Kimi [Antonelli] or George [Russell] that is winning, right? It's not really back and forth. They're miles ahead of the field. It's just that Ferrari sometimes has these good starts that push themselves in front, and then it takes a few laps to sort it all out.

“But this has nothing to do with racing. And I would say the same if I would be winning races, because I care about the racing product. It's not about being upset of where I am, because I'm actually fighting even more now. So you get to understand what you have to do and what it is about even more. For me, it's really a joke.”

Verstappen believes the current formula can be improved but cannot provide the type of racing he wants to see until the next generation of power unit, adding that many other drivers feel similar but aren’t speaking up.

“You can help it a little bit, but it's fundamentally flawed … I don't see [V8s being introduced] happening next year. It's painful.

"You have to be a bit careful with how you say these things. We are talking about it [with F1’s leadership]. I think they understand where we are coming from as the drivers.

“I think I speak for most of the drivers. Some, of course, will say it's great because they are winning races, which is fair enough. When you have an advantage, why would you give that up? Because you never know if you're going to have a good car again. But if you just speak to most of the drivers, it's not what we like. I don't think it's what the real F1 fans like.

“Maybe some fans like it, but they don't understand racing. Hopefully we can get rid of this as soon as possible.”

The four-time world champion says it’s important that the sport’s decision-makers listen to the drivers as much as possible, rather than prioritizing whether new generations of fans enjoy the product on show.

“I hope they don't think like that, because it will eventually ruin the sport. It will come and bite them back in the ass," he said. “For me, as long as we can just communicate with them and make sure that we are working on some solutions that will help a lot. But it's also going to be very difficult for everyone to agree, of course. Not everyone needs to agree, but most of the people have to agree to make changes.

“But like I said, it's political, right? Some people feel they have the advantage now, and they want to use that, rightly so. I get that, but I'm not stupid. At the same time, if you look at it for the sport, it's just not good.”